At a Glance

Help yourself to a heaping portion of folk heritage and savor the history, lifestyles, food, language and music of Louisiana’s French-speaking communities. Learn about traditions old and new and watch local artisans at work. Tap your toes to the fiddle and accordion as you learn about Louisiana music’s unique sound. Just like local folks, enjoy down-home cooking featuring dishes such as gumbo, jambalaya and étouffée. It's all here in the heart of Cajun Country.

Activity Level

Moderate

Moderate walking and standing up to 1.5 hours.

Best of all, you'll ...

At the Jean Lafitte Acadian Culture Center, learn about the deportation of Acadians from Canada and their arrival in present-day Louisiana, then continue to Vermilionville for a narrated walk through the folk-life village.

Learn the Cajun waltz and the two-step in an entertaining dance lesson.

Visit New Iberia and the Shadows-on-the-Teche, where you learn about the history of this beautiful old home, plus the influence of the area's sugarcane farming.

Featured Expert

All Experts

David Greely

David Greely, of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, is a Cajun fiddler, singer, songwriter, and amateur historian known for his skill at bringing out the hidden gems of Cajun repertoire — and for telling a great story. He performed for decades in rural Cajun dance halls as well as the international folk scene as a founding member of the legendary Mamou Playboys, garnering four Grammy nominations. David has now struck out on his own, making hearts dance with small acoustic ensembles.

Diana Monteleone

David Greely

Suggested Reading List

View 8 books

Cajun Families of the Atchafalaya : Their Ways and Words

by Greg Guirard

A cultural documentary, with 143 beautiful duo-tone photographs, of the people -- mostly French-speaking Cajuns -- who earn their livelihood by fishing, crabbing, crawfishing, trapping, and hunting alligators, turtles and bullfrogs in Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin.

Scattered to the Wind: Dispersal and Wanderings of the Acadians, 1755-1809

by Carl A. Brasseaux

The dispersal of the Acadian populationperhaps better known to historians as the Grand Drangementis unquestionably the pivotal event in Acadian history. Longfellow attempted to portray the tragic consequences of the deportation of the Acadian population from the Bay of Fundy Basic through his epic Evangeline, but the narrow focus of this work failed to convey the magnitude of the disruption and the resulting misery upon the Acadian population. Scholarly works dealing with the Acadian dispersal have also tended to focus on one group, or one aspect of this historical event. Scattered to the Wind fills the resulting need for an overview of the tragic episode, providing detailed accounts of the dispersal, Acadian life during the exile, the ensuing migrations, and the ultimate transplantation of various Acadian groups in widely separated geographic areas. Segments of the booklet examine the impact of the Grand Drangement, the dispersal, Acadians in each of the Eastern seaboard colonies, as well as post-dispersal Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Madawaska (Maine), England, France, Saint-Domingue, Martinique, French Guiana, the Falkland Islands, St. Pierre, Miquelon, and Louisiana. This short monograph also examines little known late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Acadian migrations to the lower Mississippi Valley. This fully documented narrative will provide engrossing reading for genealogists, history buffs, and anyone interested in Louisiana's Acadian heritage.

Inherit the Atchafalaya

by Greg Guirard & Ray Brassieur

Greg Guirard's stunning photographs, fascinating text by Ray Brassieur, woven together to tell the rich history of the Acadians.

Founding of New Acadia: The Beginnings of Acadian Life in Louisiana, 1765-1803

by Carl A. Brasseaux

French, Cajun, Creole, Houma: A Primer on Francophone Louisiana

by Carl A. Brasseaux

In recent years, ethnographers have recognized south Louisiana as home to perhaps the most complex rural society in North America. More than a dozen French-speaking immigrant groups have been identified there, Cajuns and white Creoles being the most famous. In this guide to the amazing social, cultural, and linguistic variation within Louisianas French-speaking region, Carl A. Brasseaux presents an overview of the origins and evolution of all the Francophone communities.

Cajun Music: Its Origins and Development

by Barry Jean Ancelet

Author Barry Ancelet examines the multicultural and multiracial origins of Cajun music, the major figures in the music's development and the circumstances which caused these diverse musical strains to fuse into the the culture's present musical repertoire. Ancelet also traces the evolution of the traditional French ballads that the Acadian settlers took with them to Canada and the songs that the Acadians sang during their years of exile, as well as describes the new musical influences that were encountered in Louisiana.

Cajun Country

by Barry Ancelet, Glen Pitre, Jay Edwards

An insightful study of the people of south Louisiana. It examines their traditional culture and its impact on modern ways.

Activity note: The 1.5 hour docent led walk through Vermilionville includes lots of standing with occasional brief opportunities to sit.

Breakfast: Daily breakfast buffet in the hotel dining room.

Morning: Field trip to Jean Lafitte Acadian Culture Center to view films on the deportation of the Acadians, as well as a film about the Atchafalaya Basin. There will also be time to see the on-site museum. Afterwards, on to Vermilionville for a guided walk through the folk life village.

Lunch: Lunch in the Performance Center on-site at Vermilionville.

Afternoon: The Natural History of the Atchafalaya Basin, with naturalist Bill Fontenot.

Dinner: Local restaurant.

DAY

3

Cajun Dance/Accordion Factory

Lafayette, LA

B,L,D

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Lafayette

Activity note: Dance class is an hour and a half in length. Participants are free to take a seat for a rest when they feel the need.

Breakfast: Daily breakfast buffet in the hotel dining room.

Morning: Delve into the fascinating and complex history of Louisiana. Current day Cajun culture is a result of not only the arrival of the Acadians, but also other groups whose cultures had an impact on the Cajun way of life. Be mesmerized by the tale, as told by Diane Monteleone, local historian.

Lunch: Local Cajun restaurant, with a driving tour of the downtown area and the university campus on the way to lunch and on the way back to the hotel.

Afternoon: Class: Learn the Cajun waltz and the two-step in an entertaining dance lesson. Even if you think you don't want to dance, you will enjoy the toe-tapping Cajun music ... and before you know it, you will be on your feet, unable to resist!

Dinner: Local Cajun restaurant.

Evening: Take a trip to a local accordion factory. This family run business may well be the highlight of the trip. Meet the Martin family. Patriarch, Junior Martin, his daughter, Pennye Huval, and grandson, Joel Martin. You will be informed, entertained, and touched by this heart-warming experience. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

DAY

4

Fiddler David Greely; Boat Ride in the Swamp

Lafayette, LA

B,L,D

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Lafayette

Activity note: Must be able to get in and out of a small boat. Assistance will be offered.

Breakfast: Daily breakfast buffet in the hotel dining room.

Morning: A Little History, a Little Fiddle Music - With David Greely, fiddler, songwriter, Cajun.

Lunch: Local restaurant.

Afternoon: Cajun food is often one pot, rustic cooking. Learn more about local food-ways, pantry ingredients,and the plate lunch culture, as related to you by your group leader and coordinator, Patti Daigle, a lifelong resident of south Louisiana. A wonderful documentary (made by grad students at UL Lafayette), "Raised on Rice and Gravy," will also be shown.

Dinner: Local Cajun restaurant.

DAY

5

Shadows on the Teche, Pont Breaux's Cajun Restaurant

Lafayette, LA

B,L,D

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Lafayette

Activity note: Walking and standing during a one hour guided tour of historic home. Walking the grounds at Tabasco.

Breakfast: Daily breakfast buffet in the hotel dining room.

Morning: We’ll take a trip to New Iberia to see the Shadows-on-the-Teche, where we will learn about the history of this beautiful old home, as well as the influence of sugarcane farming in the area. Afterwards, we’ll travel to Avery Island, to see where Tabasco is made.

Lunch: Local restaurant.

Afternoon: We'll have a second dancing lesson to review the waltz and the two-step. Perfect your skills before going out for a night of dinner and dancing. Graduation before leaving for dinner.

Dinner: We'll go out to a favorite restaurant/dance hall for dinner and dancing to live Cajun music.

DAY

6

Program Concludes

Lafayette, LA

B

Breakfast: Daily breakfast buffet in the hotel dining room.

Morning: Breakfast is served from 6:30 - 10:00. You are free to depart after breakfast. Check out of hotel. Have a safe trip home!

Meals

14 Meals

5 Breakfasts

4 Lunches

5 Dinners

The following choices may be available when requested in advance: Gluten Free

Lodging

Lodgings may differ by date. Select a date to see the lodgings specific to that date.

America is a nation of immigrants. In this program you will learn about one group of immigrants who survived expulsion and dispersion to become the Cajun people whose music, food and language we know today as part of the great American cultural patchwork.

The Cajun experience program was absolutely top shelf. I learned so much and had so much fun that I would absolutely recommend this to anyone. The combination of local presenters and relevant field trips tied everything together for a much better understanding of the culture than I would have ever gotten on my own.

Louisiana's Cajun history and culture comes alive on the Cajun Experience trip. Excellent presenters and field trips. I particularly enjoyed the dance lessons from Cal and Lou, and the visit to the Martin Accordion factory (where three generations of musicians played as they taught us the history of Cajun music). I came away well acquainted with Cajun history and gained an appreciation for the Cajun culture, language, food and music. Accommodations at the Doubletree were excellent and Patti, our leader, did a terrific job. I would recommend this trip to anyone interested in this special part of the south.

I went for the Cajun Experience and the Cajun experience is what I got. The music was fantastic, the speakers informative, the food abundant. I learned so much about a region of which I previously knew nothing. Lafayette is rich in culture. I enjoyed the company of the others in my group and I can not come up with enough superlatives for our leader (Patti).

The Cajun Experience in Music, Food, and Dance provides an excellent, enjoyable, and educational week. We learned a lot, had a lot of fun, and generally left the program having better understanding of the history and the culture of Louisiana.

Great opportunity to learn about the peoples of Louisiana in the Atchafalaya Basin; through story tellers, films, food, trips to historical village reconstruction and personal encounters with alligators and people from all over the US.